Far Cry (and its spin-off, Crysis) has always been a series with choices. It's your choice how to approach combat, how to progress the story, and even what ending you end up with. Now that people are getting their hands on the game, they are discovering that Ubisoft have added a rather significant choice very early on in the game, which allows players to skip straight to a very clever alternate ending within 30 minutes of play time. That's about as vague as I can get without spoiling anything, so if you're cool with being spoiled, please read on.

Essentially, at the very start of the game, Far Cry 4's main antagonist Pagan Min invites the player to eat a meal with him. At one point, he gets up and leaves, and tells the player to sit and enjoy his meal for a few minutes. This is where most players will get up, leave the room, and go on to start the regular Far Cry 4 campaign. But, for the patient, obedient types, if you sit at the table for a full 15 minutes, Min will return, and the alternate ending will begin.

The video above shows the ending in full, but the TL;DR version is that Min allows the player to place his mother's ashes in their final resting place - next to her daughter, who we also discover is Min's daughter (making Min a sort of step-father to the player). You then get back into the helicopter with Min and the credits roll.

It's certainly a very creative and interesting Easter egg. I wish more games did stuff like this.

I would gladly pay for DLC where the campaign is an off-shoot of this easter egg!

What team up with step daddy to hunt down those golden assholes before they can really screw over this nation? Hell yes then you just swap out the outposts for terrorist basecamps and your set

I'm with you there. After seeing that alternate ending, I almost don't want to play the main story now. He's actually a really nice guy when people don't try to kill him or his friends. Or blow up his country. You as the player are ment to join some freaking terrorists, burn down half the god damn country to fight a guy who had no ill will towards you. And the you will probably end up killing him, all because you misunderstoood his good intensions.

For once I'm all up for a big expensive dlc if it gives us an alternate story that continues after the ashes part.Go shoot some guns, maybe hunt some wildlife, terrorists attack you, now you go fight them.

This is good, right? If only games like Dragon Age 2 had the decency to do the same thing I might have finished that game instead of giving up after realising I had to sit through all the shitty side quests to make my character decent enough to get through the main quest.

Bloody brilliant subversion of expectations. Honestly, staying put is what I'd personally do in that situation (not in game) due to being entirely too afraid to run away from the heavily guarded palace of a lunatic dictator all on my lonesome and without any weapons and I'm glad they took the trouble of getting that option on there. Would've gotten a big laugh out of me if right when you're entering the chopper at the end you'd hear your character thinking "Well... everything went better than expected".

Shame about them going with a "silent protagonist" though, it can work on some games but here it didn't help me "be more immersed" (as they said) in those cutscenes at all, it just felt really awkward whenever my character was spoken to.

That said, throw some dialogue choices and branching paths into this alternative story and expand it and you'd get a game about surviving a close relationship with a very charismatic but vicious dictator that fancies himself a father figure of sorts to your character and that you suspect would simply kill you if you attempted to escape. Could even have you dealing with palace intrigue that springs up as factions inside the elite distrust you and/or are worried about how your existence throws into disarray the line of succession, their influence over the ruler or simply petty vengeance. Would you be able to kill or torture "terrorists" fighting for democracy in order to appease and gain the trust of a madman? What about completely innocent citizens? In the end, would you fully give in to the charisma of Pagan Min and carry on his legacy? Would you use the freedom bought by earning his trust to escape? Would you use his trust in you to make him vulnerable and kill him? Would you then deliver the country to the rebels, grab the power for yourself to rule with an iron fist or enact change within the system? How would the country change depending on your actions? Do you even care?

Oh wow, I got a little carried away there but I'd certainly want to play that game.

Aerotrain:Shame about them going with a "silent protagonist" though, it can work on some games but here it didn't help me "be more immersed" (as they said) in those cutscenes at all, it just felt really awkward whenever my character was spoken to.

Ajay isn't a silent protagonist, he's just quiet and withdrawn, at least in the beginning. All the early game footage I've seen he more whimpers than talks. Given his situation, I'm not surprised.

Aerotrain:Shame about them going with a "silent protagonist" though, it can work on some games but here it didn't help me "be more immersed" (as they said) in those cutscenes at all, it just felt really awkward whenever my character was spoken to.

Ajay isn't a silent protagonist, he's just quiet and withdrawn, at least in the beginning. All the early game footage I've seen he more whimpers than talks. Given his situation, I'm not surprised.

I took the care of putting it in quotes because I know he's not completely silent but as the game's creative director Alex Hutchinson said "he's more of a silent protagonist than a talking head". The rationale was that it would give the players "as much freedom as possible" and help immersion. From what I've seen so far it doesn't work for me specifically whenever he's asked a direct question like he did in this cutscene. Feels awkward.

Aerotrain:Shame about them going with a "silent protagonist" though, it can work on some games but here it didn't help me "be more immersed" (as they said) in those cutscenes at all, it just felt really awkward whenever my character was spoken to.

Ajay isn't a silent protagonist, he's just quiet and withdrawn, at least in the beginning. All the early game footage I've seen he more whimpers than talks. Given his situation, I'm not surprised.

I took the care of putting it in quotes because I know he's not completely silent but as the game's creative director Alex Hutchinson said "he's more of a silent protagonist than a talking head". The rationale was that it would give the players "as much freedom as possible" and help immersion. From what I've seen so far it doesn't work for me specifically whenever he's asked a direct question like he did in this cutscene. Feels awkward.

Oh right. Yeah... I usually agree with Hutchinson with a lot of things but this is not one of them.

If only there was at least a slice of a campaign behind this... well, this ending is still a good thing. It just doesn't have the guaranteed "shooting guns" nor a view of Kyrat after Pagan really takes over.

Aerotrain:Bloody brilliant subversion of expectations. Honestly, staying put is what I'd personally do in that situation

I would stay not out of fear, but out of respect. Vaas killed every person who went against him. Pagan teaches them harsh lessons, while respecting their right to life.

I wonder if this is some tongue in cheek obedience test directed at the Call of duty generation. "Oh there was really a whole game there. You just didnt open the door to it, without instructions to do so. Tool!"

I like concepts like this. Where a point in a story just let's the player end it. Is it needed? Not really but it's fun all the same. I wish more games would do this. Just give the easy way out ending for fun.

Xsjadoblayde:I wonder if this is some tongue in cheek obedience test directed at the Call of duty generation. "Oh there was really a whole game there. You just didnt open the door to it, without instructions to do so. Tool!"

Disgusting design choice from the Far Cry team, how many people are going to get ripped off with only 30 mins worth of game without a "press E to continue game" prompt?

This reminds me of the single greatest subversion in videogames up until that point and sadly pretty much up until today. The choice offered in Battlezone 2: Combat commander left me completely stunned, I had never experienced such a twist before and it left my 8 year old self in tears. Looking back there is nothing that emotional about what happened but...

Do not look any further if you do not want to have the game 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

I would have probably stayed put to see what would happen, that is how I do.

Wow. So after far cry 3 revealing that actually no one was the good guy (on account of your new native friends wanting you to kill your old friends and then killing you) now far cry 4 reveals that the bad guy ... isn't such a bad guy after all. You know what Ubi? Fuck your alternate ending. I want a whole fucking alternate campaign based on staying there insted of going out like a moronic fuck with the preservation instinct of a kamikaze pilot

Bat Vader:Depending on if I like the main ending I may consider the alternate ending the canon ending in my playthrough.

I couldn't agree more with you. This "hiden" ending is what would happen if the protaganist acts like a sane person and just sits tight when asked to by a guy who clearly doesn't mean you any harm. And in the end, everything goes better than expected.

The "real" game, is some weird alternate reallity where the protaganist snaps and for some unknow reason think it's a good idea to join up with a terrorist group who wants to kill your very nice "stepdad".

TBH, I don't even feel like I care about the story of this game anymore, this ending is just great on its own, but if the gameplay's as good as 3, I'm in.

Gotta say though, right from the start this feels a lot better than the "oh no but the story is super deep and subtle" followed by pasting Alice in Wonderland quotes ALL OVER the game.

Ralphfromdk:I'm with you there. After seeing that alternate ending, I almost don't want to play the main story now. He's actually a really nice guy when people don't try to kill him or his friends. Or blow up his country. You as the player are ment to join some freaking terrorists, burn down half the god damn country to fight a guy who had no ill will towards you.

But... But you gotta fight the MAN though... and be edgy and cool with the terrorists instead of using reason and just doing what you went there to do.

Bat Vader:Depending on if I like the main ending I may consider the alternate ending the canon ending in my playthrough.

I couldn't agree more with you. This "hiden" ending is what would happen if the protaganist acts like a sane person and just sits tight when asked to by a guy who clearly doesn't mean you any harm. And in the end, everything goes better than expected.

The "real" game, is some weird alternate reallity where the protaganist snaps and for some unknow reason think it's a good idea to join up with a terrorist group who wants to kill your very nice "stepdad".

I don't know much about the main antagonist but what do the terrorists have against him though? Do they have a reason to hate him?

I would gladly pay for DLC where the campaign is an off-shoot of this easter egg!

I'm with you there. After seeing that alternate ending, I almost don't want to play the main story now. He's actually a really nice guy when people don't try to kill him or his friends. Or blow up his country. You as the player are ment to join some freaking terrorists, burn down half the god damn country to fight a guy who had no ill will towards you. And the you will probably end up killing him, all because you misunderstoood his good intensions.

For once I'm all up for a big expensive dlc if it gives us an alternate story that continues after the ashes part.Go shoot some guns, maybe hunt some wildlife, terrorists attack you, now you go fight them.

Even before watching the video, I had that sinking sensation that he wasn't a badguy that needed to die, but rather someone who was misunderstood and just doing the best he could the only way he knew how. And after seeing that, I know you have to kill him, and the guilt from having seen that first would drive me crazy.

Ocelano: I would gladly pay for DLC where the campaign is an off-shoot of this easter egg!

I'm with you there. After seeing that alternate ending, I almost don't want to play the main story now. He's actually a really nice guy when people don't try to kill him or his friends. Or blow up his country. You as the player are ment to join some freaking terrorists, burn down half the god damn country to fight a guy who had no ill will towards you. And the you will probably end up killing him, all because you misunderstoood his good intensions.

For once I'm all up for a big expensive dlc if it gives us an alternate story that continues after the ashes part.Go shoot some guns, maybe hunt some wildlife, terrorists attack you, now you go fight them.

Even before watching the video, I had that sinking sensation that he wasn't a badguy that needed to die, but rather someone who was misunderstood and just doing the best he could the only way he knew how. And after seeing that, I know you have to kill him, and the guilt from having seen that first would drive me crazy.

The DLC really needs to pick up from that alternate ending, a lot!

i seriously doubt the rest of the game is going to paint him as a good guy, he has superficial charm, but the scene with killing the guard at the beginning shows that he's got some serious rage issues, and the actual story of the game will likely demonstrate the whys and hows of what makes him a bad guy. I'm guessing there's going to be prison camps and mass executions involved from what I've seen of the play demos so far.

Given that this is Farcry, and they seem to be playing off the themes of Farcry 3, it's likely that the Golden Path are going to come off shady as well, but in the end, at best, it's going to be a case of no one really being the clear cut good guy and there are apparently multiple actual end game endings.